An account of the assassination of loyal citizens of North Carolina

AN

ACCOUNT

OF THE ASSASSINATION OF

LOYAL CITIZENS

OF

NORTH CAROLINA

FOR

HAVING SERVED IN THE UNION ARMY

WHICH TOOK PLACE AT KINGSTON

IN THE MONTHS

OF FEBRUARY AND MARCH 1864

BY

RUSH C. HAV/KINS

NEW YORK

MDCCCLXXXXVII

'J? '> ^) i\

^'"^

V>?

EXPLANATORY.

THE following account of an atrocious crime was written
thirty-one years ago, at a time when all the incidental facts
attending and preceding it were fresh in my mind. It would
be diificult to state the exact why it was written. But prob-
ably because there had to be a vent for an outward pressure
of suppressed indignation which could not be controlled. An
wanton and cruel assassination of twenty-two perfectly inno-
cent men had been perpetrated, practically, by the order of
an inhuman monster who had been placed beyond the reach of
the power to punish, by the operation of an entirely unneces-
sary compact, flowing from the final defeat of the rebel army.
From no standpoint either of politics, policy or human-
ity, could the terms, in their entirety, granted at the time of
the surrender be defended.

Holding myself, though unwittingly, responsible for
placing these murdered victims in a position which caused
them to be assassinated; indignant that their murderer, by an
untoward blunder, had been placed beyond the reach of the
infliction of a just punishment, my grief and chagrin knew no
bounds. These feelings had burned within me until the
oppression of silence was too much to bear, and under the
full glow of feverish heat, this narrative was written; and
now, thirty years and more since it was penned, I am not dis-
posed to change a single word or phrase save in the interest of
better expression.

I believe to-day as I did thirty-two years ago, that

General Grant's terms at Appomatox, were unnecessarily
lenient and under the circumstances, uncalled for ; not in re-
gard to the rank and file, but for including the leaders who
were largely responsible for a perfectly causeless, useless and
merciless (at least on one side) war.

In 1870 Henry B. Dawson, a well known writer and
publisher of out-of-the-way incidents relating to American
history, had planned to publish a series of such incidents
growing out of the rebellion. The copy now used was made
for him, has remained unseen for upwards of a quarter of a
century and is now permitted to come to the surface — because
a friend of sound judgment who heard a part of it read, re-
gards it as a contribution to history of sufficient importance
to be preserved.

R. C. H.

New York, December i, 1897.

Letter to Mr. Dawson.

Henry B. Dawson, Esq.,

My Dear Sir :

The accompanying paper relating to the execution
of loyal North Carolina soldiers by the order of the rebel
General Pickett, was written early in the year 1867, during
the infamous administration of Andrew Johnson. Those who
read it will naturally come to the conclusion that my feelings
were strongly enlisted, and that some of my expressions are
more remarkable for strength than either good taste or
elegance.

I have never been a convert to the policy of our Govern-
ment, relating to the rebels after they were compelled to
surrender. The consequence of their acts cost the National
Government nearly seven billions of money, the States nearly
as much more and entailed a loss to of about three hundred
and fifty thousand of valuable lives ; besides grief, poverty
and individual suffering which it is impossible to estimate;
and yet, up to this time the men who brought about this
great loss of life and untold misery to thousands of house-
holds, have escaped all punishment, and a majority of them,
no doubt, feel that they are at liberty as soon as they regain
sufficient strength, to undertake another rebellion.

I have yet to learn of any good results to the Nation, in
consequence of this indiscriminate, senseless and unprecedent-

K

ed pardoning of rebels. On the contrary it has led them to be-
lieve that our respect for their individual superiority and
bravery, has caused us to sheath the sword of justice which
should have fallen upon many of their necks ; nor have I been
able to ascertain that there is any more liberty of speech, or
protection for person or property in the rebel States to-day
than there was in 1861. In many districts, I believe th^t the
hatred against the Northern people is greater than ever, and
the open expression of it more violent. If the truth of this
statement in relation to present conditions in the South is
admitted, then we may inquire what good has been accom-
plished by the exercise of this uncalled-for and unusual
clemency?

Yours faithfully,

Rush C. Hawkins.
N. Y., November i, 1870.

IN the month of February, 1862, I was placed by Gen'l
Burnside in command at Roanoke Island, North Carolina.
This gave me control of the towns on the Albemarle, Croatan
and Carratuck Sounds, and also those on the Roanoke, Chow-
an, Columbia, Hertford and Pasquotank Rivers. Lieut. -Com-
mander Charles W. Flusser, U. S. Navy, originally from Mary-
land, was left in command of the naval division in those waters.
Soon after assuming control of my district, 1 ascertained that
there were among the non-slaveholding population, many
who professed sentiments of loyalty to the Union, and that
they had expressed a determination never to serve in the ranks
of the rebel army. In fact, so strong were their expressions
of loyalty that Lieut. -Commander Flusser became deeply
impressed with their truthfulness and sincerity, and con-
stantly urged upon me the importance of enlisting these
unionists in the cause of their country; and the more exten-
sive his intercourse with them, the more he became convinced
that nearly all of the non-slaveholding inhabitants of certain
parts of my district were still devoted to the old Govern-
ment. He found that many of them had successfully resisted
rebel conscription, and had never given their allegiance to the
rebel cause. Very few of them were interested in slavery,
and consequently had no reason for aiding the rebellion.
They worked in their fields in parties, with arms near at

8

hand, during the day, and at night resorted to the swamps for
shelter against conscripting parties of rebel soldiers; and by
thus constantly being on the alert succeeded in rendering un-
availing all efforts of the rebels to force them into the ranks of
their army.

In several interviews which I had with Lieut. -Com-
mander Flusser, he urged me to occupy the town of Plymouth,
and to organize the Union men of that vicinity into a regi-
ment of soldiers. In a letter to me of May 28, 1862, he said:
"There is nothing new of interest except a very strong
expression of Union sentiment. We will miss the golden
opportunity if we do not promptly send small detachments of
men to the towns on the Sound and arm the loyal people.
They are eager to be enlisted, and we seem to be indifferent
— apathetic."

"It must be by the act of the people of a State that
that State shall be brought back to its allegiance. Then it
seems to me to be the part of wisdom to foster and encour-
age the feeling, and expression of the feeling of loyalty
whenever found, and to the utmost of our power."

" If I had 350 or 400 muskets, with ammunition, I
could soon find Union-loving men to take them and use them
well in our cause."

In a letter dated June 2, 1862, to General Burnside, I
wrote :

" Lieut. -Commander Flusser is exceedingly anxious to
put arms in the hands of the Union citizens of Washington

County. He says he can raise 350 men in a very short time.
I shall go to Plymouth on Wednesday and see for myself, and
if I think there are competent leaders who can be trusted, 1
will supply them with arms and ammunition, unless you
should otherwise order."

Previous to this communication I had had several con-
versations with General Burnside in relation to this matter;
and the final result was that he placed the details of forming
a North Carolina Union regiment in my hands, and gave me
full power to do whatever I might deem best for the interests
of the service.

Word was sent to Commander Flusser to notify the
Union citizens to be present at Plymouth a certain day, when
Commodore Rowan and myself would meet them for the
purpose of ascertaining the extent of existing Union sentiment,
and to see to what use, if any, this sentiment might be put
for the public service. And accordingly, upon the day fixed,
we met some two hundred and fifty Union men, and a free
interchange of views in relation to the affairs of the country
took place ; patriotic addresses were made by Commodore
Rowan and myself, eliciting the most hearty approval from
nearly all present.

Many questions were asked and answered; but there
was evidently one matter of great concern with them. The
anxiety of these loyal North Carolinians seemed to hinge upon
one point, and that was, ' ' What will become of us in case we
are captured by the rebels ? " We assured them that the Govern-

ment of the United States would protect them and their families to
the last extreme ; and that the Southern men who placed themselves
under the protection of the flag ivould, by fighting in the ranks of
our army and upholding the authority of the couuiry, be looked upon
as special wards of the Government j and that any outrage perpe-
trated upofi them, or upon their families would be severely ptmished.
This, to them the all-important point, being settled to their
satisfaction, they expressed their willingness to become sol-
diers in the ranks of the Union army. An enlistment roll was
accordingly made out, and about one hundred men signed their
names at once for service in the army of their country.
Others returned to their homes to confer with their families
and embrace them, perhaps for the last time, and with re-
newed confidence they returned to join their companions in
arms.

To me this was one of the most solemn and interesting
occasions I had thus far witnessed in the public service. The
confiding simplicity and earnestness of these humble, unedu-
cated people, made a deep impression upon me. Patriotism
in the North, at that time, was one thing, while loyalty to the
flag in the South was quite another. In the Free States, every-
where unless perhaps in New York City, it was an easy matter
to be loyal and to talk and act in accordance with ideas
of patriotic devotion to duty ; but in the South, even to
breathe one word in favor of the old Government, or to do
a single act which might awaken a suspicion that one was
not committed body and soul for the success of the rebel
cause, might bring the infliction of every kind of fiendish

insult and outrage, from which neither age nor sex was ever
spared. Yet these "poor whites," as they were called by the
planters, living in the swamps of North Carolina, oppressed,
unprotected, braved all; exhibiting the highest order of cour-
age, patriotism and devotion to the cause of their country ;
remaining true in the midst of the false, and faithful when all
around were faithless.

Out of the North Carolinians who had thus offered for
service, the "First North Carolina Volunteers" was
assembled at Plymouth and placed under the command of
Captain W. H. Hammill, of my regiment, for instruction
and discipline. I continued in control of enlistments and
formation until July lo, 1862, when General Burnside, with
the Coast Division, of which my command was a part,
was ordered to join the Army of the Potomac, and I heard
nothing more of our North Carolinian soldiers until the spring
of 1864. But during this time it is certain that from the
beginning, which we have thus described, two regiments of
loyal North Carolinians, trusting to our word and promise as
officers of the United States service, had come into existence.

With these preliminary remarks the reader will clearly
comprehend the narration of facts which aWto follow.

On the I St of February, 1864, a large rebel force under
the command of Major General G. E. Pickett, a native of
Virginia and a graduate of West Point, made an advance
upon Newbern, N. C, and after destroying the gunboat
Underwriter, burning a bridge or two and capturing a con-

siderable number of prisoners, they withdrew to the town of
Kingston, some twenty miles off, where a halt was made and
General Pickett's headquarters established. It was soon ascer-
tained by the rebel commander that among the prisoners
captured, there were several natives of North Carolina, who
had enlisted in our service. This, in his opinion, was the
most unpardonable of crimes, and deserving of speedy and
cruel punishment. Accordingly, a court martial was con-
vened, which was composed of Virginians, and these un-
fortunnte North Carolinians, guilty of no other offense than
loyalty to their Government, were placed upon trial — a per-
fect mockery of all justice — on the charge of deserting from
the rebel cause and entering the service of the United
States. It is needless to say that a large number of them
were condemned and sentenced to be hung, as will appear
from the action of the Union General Ruger, commanding the
district of Eastern North Carolina, who, learning of these out-
rages, ordered a board of officers " to inquire into and report
the facts concerning the murder of United States soldiers at
Kingston, N. C, by the rebels during the winter and spring
of 1864." This Board, during their several sittings, examined
some twenty-eight witnesses, and finally rendered a report
which tells a plain story. In brief, that twenty-two of these
loyal North Carolinians were convicted of and executed for
constructive desertion. A few extracts from it will show how
trials involving the death sentence were wa;/ao-^^ under rebel
rule.

13

Extracts from the Report of the Board.

General:

*******
There was a large number of Union soldiers hung at
Kingston, N. C, by the rebels during the months of February
and March, 1864. There is a discrepancy as to the number of
men executed, but the testimony is substantially as follows,
viz. :

"The rebels executed twenty-three or twenty-four
men, said to have been United States soldiers, at Kingston,
N. C. Two men were hung first, thirteen next and five
lastly." [Testimony of Josiah Wood.] Other evidence
shows that twenty-two United States soldiers have been
hung; two at first were executed together, afterwards
thirteen and lastly seven [testimony of W. F. Huggins]. All
the testimony agrees that there were three separate execu-
tions; also that the number hung at the first two executions
were two and thirteen, and, in the opinion of the Board,
seven is the number of those who were the victims of the
last execution, which gives a total of twenty-two.

The first of these executions took place between the
ist and 15th of February, 1864; the second, the 15th of Feb-
ruary, 1864; and the last one in the month of March, 1864.
*******
The following list of names includes all the enlisted
men of the Second North Carolina Volunteers believed to
have been hung by the rebels, viz. : W. D. Haddock, William

14

Jones, William H. Dougherty, John I. Brock, John Freeman,
Mitchell Busick, Wm. L. Bryan, Wm. Irvine, Wm. I. Hill,
Lewis Taylor, Calvin I. Haigman, Jesse L. Lummerlin, Joseph
Brock, Andrew I. Britton, Stephen Jones, Elijah Kellum, John
Stanley, Lewis Freeman, Amos Aymlett, David Jones, Charles
Cotterell and Joseph Hackett.

* * * ?v * * *

After the capture of these men at Beechgrove, N. C,
they were confined in the Court House at Kingston until they
were removed to the dungeon of the old jail, where they
remained until they were executed under the most cruel and
debasing treatment, and were rescued from starvation only by
their friends supplying them with food. Nor did the out-
rages perpetrated upon the victims of this wholesale slaughter
cease with cruel treatment or death itself Their dead bodies
were stripped of their clothing almost or quite to a state of
nudity, to be contemptuously left for their relatives to gather
up and inter, delivered to experimenting surgery like common
felons, or scooped into a common grave at the foot of the
gallows, while their families were insulted, robbed of their
property and left to depend upon the charity of friends (while
those who defended them were themselves in danger), or to
suffer for mere subsistence.

The testimony of J. H. Nethercutt proves conclusively
that these men belonged to the local North Carolina service,
and that they never had been Confederate soldiers; therefore,
in the opinion of the Board, a Confederate States court mar-
tial had no jurisdiction over them; and, further, the court

15

martial virtually acknowledged its incapacity in the case of
Clinton Cox, who was arraigned upon the same charge, but
who, it appears, was saved from the fate of the others by the
testimony of Capt. G. W. Cox (of a local N. C. company),
which was to the effect that Clinton Cox had belonged to his
company, but that he had not deserted, because he did not
consider leaving a local company to be desertion from the
Confederate service. Witnesses and counsel were denied to
the other men, and they were hung; while their cases were
parallel or as aggravated. It is the opinion of the Board that
further investigation would prove that Elijah Kellum never
had been in the local or Confederate service, but that he was
fraudulently reported as conscripted by a Captain Wilson of
Jones Co., N. C, enrolling officer in the rebel service.
* * * * * * *

The rebel General Pickett was in command of the De-
partment of Eastern North Carolina, and approved the sen-
tence of death passed by the court martial and ordered the
execution of these United States soldiers; Gen. Hoke in
command at Kingston, N. C, was charged with the execu-
tion, aided by Pickett's Provost Guard and several volunteer
hangmen, one of whom was known as Blunt King of Gold-
borough, N. C. The person who hung the thirteen is known
as a tall dark-complexioned man with a cross or squint eye —
a resident of Raleigh; his name the Board has been unable
to learn. The proof of the unparalled barbarities of the
last two men above mentioned is very positive and abundant.

The object of this sacrifice of human life, perpetrated

i6

by rebel officers, was, in the opinion of the Board, to terrify
the loyal people of North Carolina; to make them subservient
to the scheme of rebellion, and to bring contempt upon the
Government its victims represented. The way the bodies of
these murdered men were treated; the contempt shown to the
persons and property of the widows; also the contemptuous
language with reference to the uniform of the United States
used by Gen. R. F. Hoke in appealing to the pride and sensi-
bilities of Bryan McCullum, is sufficient evidence that they
were determined to take the lives of these men for the pur-
pose of intimidation, which is further evident from the fact
that they were refused either counsel or the taking of testi-
mony favorable to them. It appears that those who volun-
teered to put these men to death were actuated by a spirit of
fiendish thirst for blood. Those directly implicated in the
execution were, viz. :

"The court martial, of which the Board are unable to
learn the names of the members; the rebel General Pickett,
who ordered the execution; the rebel General R. F. Hoke,
who performed the execution; Colonel Boker, who robbed
and persecuted their widows; Blunt King and another volun-
teer hangman unknown. * * *

"It is the opinion of the Board that these men have
violated the rules of war and every principle of humanity,
and are guilty of crime too heinous to be excused by the
Government of the United States; and therefore there should
be a Military Commission immediately appointed for the trial
of these men and to inflict upon the perpetrators of such

17

crimes their just punishment.

m ^tf 'fit 4f

(Signed) W. H. Doherty, Capt. and A. CL M.,

President of the Board.
Burton S. Mills, Capt. 14th U. S. C. A. (Heavy).
Jonathan Hopkins, 2d Lieut. U. S. C. A. (Heavy),
Recorder to Brevet Major-Gen. Ruger,

Raleigh, N. C.

Brief extracts from the testimony of some of the wit-
nesses will throw additional light upon some of the facts and
conclusions set forth in the report. The widow of Jesse
Summerlin, one of the victims, testifies: —

"That she was only allowed to see her husband in his
dungeon the day before his murder and a short time before
he went to the scaffold. When the dead body of her hus-
band was handed over to her by the Sheriff, it had been
stripped of all but pantaloons. She carried it home, got a
coffin, and buried it. Some time after, Colonel Baker, of the
rebel army, visited her house, took away her horse, all her
provisions, and left her with five children in destitute circum-
stances."

The widow of William Jones "saw her husband in
jail the evening before he was hung; could not take his body
home for want of a conveyance. At first the Union men
were afraid to help her, and the rebels cursed her; said 'it
was too good for him.' She sent her boy of 15 and her
nephew of 17 years to bring home the body. They searched

1 8

for a long time, and at last found it in an old loft in charge of
a sergeant and guard, who at first refused to give it up, but
at last the surgeon gave it to them. It was stripped of all
covering except socks; this was a week after the execution.
The son took the body home and buried it. She was obliged
to walk five miles; has five children and no home."

The widow of John Brock "saw her husband one
week before he was executed; he was confined in the dun-
geon of the jail; he told me he only got one cracker a day,
and all the other prisoners said they only got one cracker a
day each. She fed her husband and the others, or they would
have starved. Her husband's body, when delivered to her,
had been stripped of the most of its clothes."

J. H. Nethercutt testified: "these men were members of
my local battalion and were consolidated into the 66th N. C.
rebel troops. These men who were in this command never
consented to the change, were greatly dissatisfied with it,
never appeared at the muster of said regiment, never an-
swered to their names, nor were in any way active members.
The men complained that they were unfairly dealt with.
Witness believes that these men were not in sy?npathy with the
rebellion, and wanted to get away from the rebel ranks, using
the change of service as a pretext; witness asked Hoke to
reprieve these men; Hoke said he had orders to hang them
and he would do so."

Mr. Wm. F. Huggins "knew Elijah Kellum, a man of
deformed body and broken constitution. I knew he never
was received in any rebel regiment, a?id believe he never was a

19

soldier ; no mustering officer would receive him."

James B. Wells "was present at the court martial that
condemned William Haddock. His sister, Mrs. McCullum,
requested him to accompany her there, as she was trying
to get a summons for a witness to free her brother." All was
refused by the court, and neither counsel nor witnesses for the
prisoners were admitted.'''

Mr. G. W. Cox "went to the court to bear testi-
mony in favor of Clinton Cox, v/ho was among the prisoners,
and had been a member of the bridge guard, and who
was judged not guilty of desertion, but was detained a prisoner
by the rebels, a?td died in prison j thinks the court was composed of
Virginians from Pickett's division.

Mr. Bryan McCullom " went to see Gen. Hoke be-
foee the execution, and asked for an order for the body of
his brother-in-law, in order to bury it. Hoke inquired if he
wanted to bury him in a Yankee uniform. He replied that he
did. Hoke then expressed surprise that so respectable a man
would bury his brother-in-law in a Yankee uniform."

Several witnesses testify that many of these men went
inside the Union lines for the double purpose of escaping
conscription, and of fighting against the detested and cruel
rebel rule. Civilians testify that they were placed in jail and
treated in the most cruel manner, because they were suspected
of entertaining Union sentiments.

The testimony throughout proves most conclusively
that the most of these men who were executed had never

been in the rebel service; that some of them were in State
organizations for the purpose of doing local guard duty, and
that they enlisted in these local companies with the distinct
understanding that they were not to go out of the State. Major J. H.
Nethercutt, who commanded the battalion in which some of
these men were enrolled, says that they were consolidated into
the 66th N. C. rebel troops by order of the rebel Secretary of
War, without their cofisent. And it was understood that those
who should not acquiesce in the consolidation were to be
conscripted as soon as they were mustered out of the State
service. So there was no way left to escape serving in the
rebel army, unless they could make their way inside of the
Union lines. Others had never been in either State or rebel
military service; consequently had never committed any of-
fence against the laws of State or rebel government. But
Pickett acted upon the theory that all men ought to be hung
or put out of the way who were not in the ranks of the rebel
army."

Judge Advocate General Holt, to whom the proceedings
of the Board were submitted, after a careful review, in a com-
munication of Dec. 12, 1865, to the Secretary of War, says:
•'The record furnishes no evidence that the unhappy victims
of this outrage were not deserters, so far as an abandonment
of a constrained and hated service would warrant their being
stigmatized as such; but, on the contrary, the little evidence
on that point furnished by the record tends to show that they
were,"

These men, in thus refusing, as every good citizen

21

should, to aid a traitorous cause, could not have had any of
that ^w///" which constitutes desertion. The word desertion, in a
military sense, implies guilt and crime, but assuredly the aban-
donment of a rebel cause is neither guilt nor crime; but, on
the contrary, it is a merit and virtue, and ought to be so held
and maintained by a just government. Desertion implies that
the authority from which the desertion takes place has a right
to the deserters service, which was not the case in the present
instance. There are thousands of men now living who went
to Canada from the United States during the rebellion to avoid
serving in the army, and the government has never, in any
instance, claimed that these skulkers could be punished as
deserters. But if caught in the United States after they had
been drafted, they could have been made to serve their full
term of service. There can be no desertion unless the deserter
has been regularly mustered into some branch of the service
before the act of desertion takes place.

Upon the recommendation of Genl. Holt the Board
was required to make a "further and more minute investiga-
tion," which they did, and succeeded in bringing to light
many more very important facts. Among the witnesses ex-
amined was ex-Governor Z. B. Vance, of N. C, who testified
that—

"These troops were raised for local defence. I am
inclined to think the Confederate Government did not keep
faith with these local troops, who were found to be of little
benefit to the service.

"I know Col. Farrabee, who raised a command for
local service on the Chowan River, was forced into the
regular service by the Confederate Government."

"1 did, at various times, make appeals to the Con-
federate authorities in behalf of the men of this State. These
men were enlisted entirely for local defense, and every effort was
made to transfer these organizations into the regular service
of the Confederacy when they were found to be worthless^

"I myself favored transfer to the regular service where
it could be done without violation of good faith; but in these
instances of Nethercutt's battalion it was a violation of their
enlistment agree me nt.''

Drury Lacy, adjutant to one of the brigades in Hoke's
division, testifies that ' ' they deserted before the consolidation ;
when they were executed \\\t consolidation had taken place,"

Judge Battel, of the N. C. Supreme Court, testifies that
"several men from Lenoir and other localities came before
me, claiming that they had volunteered for 'local service,'
and had been taken off into the regular Confederate service by
General Hill. It was not pretended that they had been con-
scripted under a conscription law. These petitioners in every
instance, some twenty or thirty, I discharged on habeas corpus^
on the ground that they 7iiere subject to duty only for local defence ;
for bridge guards and other local organizations in which they
had volunteered under the Confederate Act of Congress, This
was in the summer andfiill of 1863. I thought it a great out-
rage for General Hill to take them off."

23

John B. Nethery, Assistant Adjutant-General in the office
of the Adjutant-General of the State at Raleigh, testifies that
he was at Kingston a few days after the execution in April,
and recollects that the people expressed great regret at the
execution, feeling that it was for a small offence. When they
were found to be of little use, an order was issued for their
transfer to the 66th Regiment. The order was considered a
violation of the terms of their enlistment, and opposed by the
men. The men were given their choice of going into the
66th Regiment or being mustered out and conscripted, which
amounted to the same thing— whipping the devil around the
stump. It was understood by the Confederate authorities as
their organized enlistment ; it was considered merely a change
of position on paper, as they would have been sent to the
regiment all the same under the Confederate conscription.
I think there was some objection by the State authorities.
The dissatisfaction of the State authorities was evinced by
protest. The legality of the order transferring them was
declared (by Judge Battel) null and void. Some were discharged
under writs of habeas corpus ; some were dragooned into the
service, and others succeeded in effecting their escape to the
woods. My impression is that they were not allowed to
return to their homes. The pressure was for men, and they
were compelled to go into the 66th or be discharged and con-
scripted on the spot into the regiment. The whole thing was
on paper, and ultimately meant service in the 66th anyivay.

Lieutenant-Colonel S. McD. Tate, of the 6th N. C.
rebel regiment, testifies to "seventy odd executions at Kings-

24

ton," and says: "Well, it was a sort of general hanging
down there. There were so many executions that I was
considerably worried at having to take my men over so often,
as there was such deep sand. At one time I think there were
a dozen hung. My impression is that these men were executed
in the presence of Hoke's Brigade, as an examj>/e to such as
might be weak-kneed amon;^ the North Carolina soldiers."

QjLiestion: How many of these executions did you
attend }

Answer: "Three or more. They began and increased
until they got to be frightful. I think there were twenty odd
hung the first time, but I am not positive to more than twelve,
as I wish to be particular. In our service we shot men for
desertion; but for desertion to the enemy, which was a
higher offence, we hung them, and 1 think that is why these
men were hung."

John Hughes, Qjuartermaster of General Hoke's Brigade,
says: "1 think the court was composed of Virginians; no
North Carolinians or Georgians."

The rebel commander, no doubt, knew how well these
"Virginia gentlemen" would do their whole duty, and the
court was selected with special reference to devotion on the
part of its members to the interests of the rebel cause.

But not the least interesting of the developments
brought to light are those illustrating the inhumanity and
savage brutality of General Pickett, who seems to have been
a most willing tool in the hands of the rebel leaders.

25

Blunt King, a private in the loth N. C. rebel troops,
testifies that he "heard a lieutenant say that they belonged
to his company." General Pickett then walked up to the
prisoners and said: "What are you doing here?" They
answered something which 1 did not hear. General Pickett
then said: "God damn you. 1 reckon you'll hardly go back
there again. You damned rascals, I'll have you shot, and all
the other damned rascals who desert." When I was sitting
on a log at the door, after the prisoners had been taken away,
General Pickett said: "We'll have a court martial on these
fellows pretty soon, and after some are shot, the rest will
stop deserting." I heard General Pickett say when within
four miles of Newbern, when we went down on the march,
"that every God-damned man who did not do his duty, or
deserted, ought to be shot or hung."

General John J. Peck, then in command of the district
of North Carolina, as soon as he ascertained that some of our
loyal N. C. troops had been captured and fallen into the hands
of the rebel commander, forwarded to General Pickett a copy
of the President's order of July 20, 1865, in which it is " or-
dered that for every soldier of the United States killed in
violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed, "
and at the same time protested against our captured soldiers
of the North Carolina regiments being treated otherwise than
as prisoners of war, and furnished a list of loyal North Caro-
linians then supposed to be in his hands, captured during the
attack upon Newbern,

26

In another communication to the same officer, General
Peck stated that he refrained from executing a rebel soldier
until he should learn definitely what action had been taken by
General Pickett. In answer to these several communications
the rebel General wrote four letters, all of them showing be-
yond a doubt that he was not animated by a sad sense of duty
alone, but that he was criminally forward in taking human
life, and was thus aiming at the reputation of a worthy officer
in a rebel cause.

The people of the slave States have always claimed that
their special sort of civilization is far superior to that of the
free States; and the natives of Virginia, with its great abun-
dance of "First Families," assert that they, of all the South,
are the keystone of the noble Southern arch, which all who
know must admit is unique among the structures known to
the history of the social compact. It must be borne in mind
that these letters were written by an officer of high rank in
the rebel army, a brave soldier who was a scion of the better
Virginia stock, and a typical Southern gentleman. The read-
ing of them ought to convince the most tender-hearted,
among the loyal people of the North, that at least one among
our "erring brothers" who wanted to "depart in peace"
ought not to be deprived of that punishment which his crimes
so richly deserve ; not if every general in our army should
recommend it.

We give extracts from several of Pickett's letters, show-
ing the malignity of his disposition in the execution of these
men.

27

" HEADauARTERS, Department of N. C,

Petersburg, Va., February 17, 1864.

General:

*******

To your threat expressed in the following extract from
your communication, viz.: "Believing that this atrocity has
been perpetrated without your knowledge, and that you will
take prompt steps to disavow the violation of the usages of
war, and to bring the offenders to justice, I shall refrain from
executing a rebel soldier until I learn your action in the
premises."

" I have merely to say that I have in my hands, subject
to my orders, captured in recent operations in this depart-
ment, some four hundred and fifty officers and men of the
United States Army, and for every man you hang / will hang
ten of the United States Army."

G. E. Pickett,
Maj.-Gen, Commanding.
To Maj.-Gen. John J. Peck,

U. S. Army, commanding at Newbern.

Headquarters, Department of N. C.,

Petersburg, Va., Feb'y 17, 1864.
General:

Your communication of the 13th inst. is in hand. I
have the honor to state that you have made a slight mistake
in regard to numbers; three hundred and twenty-five having
"fallen into (our) your hands in (our) late hasty retreat from
Newbern," instead of the list of fifty-three which you have

28

so kindly furnished me, and which will enable me to bring to
justice many who have up to this time escaped their just deserts.

I herewith return you the names of those who have
been tried and convicted by court martial for desertion from
the Confederate service, and taken with arms in their hands,
" duly enlisted in the Second N. C. Infantry, United States
Army." They have been duly executed according to the law
and custom of war.

Your letter willy of course, prevent any mercy being shown
any of the remaining number, should proper and just proof be
brought of their having deserted the Confederate colors.

Many of these plead in extenuation that they have been
forced into the ranks of the Federal Government (not true).
Extending you my thanks for your opportune list,
\ remain, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

G. E. Pickett,
Maj.-Gen. Commanding.
Maj.-Gen. J. J. Peck,

Commanding U. S. Forces at Newbern, N. C.

In a letter addressed to Adjt.-Gen, Cooper, of the rebel
army, dated Feb'y 26, 1864, this humane Major-General says:

"I hope the whole of the prisoners captured in this
department will be held at my disposal."

This request, if complied with, would have enabled
him to make good his threat of hanging "ten for one."

Let the reader mark with what fiendish gusto this

29

willing butcher in the inhuman cause of slavery, this pre-
tended vindicator of the lav/s of warfare, contemplates a real
feast of cold-blooded murder! How sincerely he thanks
General Peck for his "opportune list"! How superfluous
the remark, "Your letter will, of course, prevent any mercy
being shown any of the remaining number," as though any
one acquainted with the rebel way of doing business could
for one moment suppose that mercy would be shown to any
one, once fairly in their clutches, who had been guilty of the
crime of loyalty to the Union cause. If any there be who
doubt the truth of this assertion, let them visit the thirty-five
thousand graves around the prison pens of the Union soldiers,
situated in the rebel States!

in March, 1864, the Board of Officers made a further
report, setting forth clearly and conclusively many important
facts tending to fix the guilt of these unwarrantable executions
upon General Pickett. They find the facts in relation to the
local service of these alleged deserters to be as follows :

"Aside from these two classes of troops, the so-called
Confederate Congress passed an act of August 21, 1861, "To
provide for local defence and special service," whereby certain
volunteer forces were organized for specific purposes, with
certain privileges. Their muster rolls specified that they
were raised under this act, setting forth distinctly the services
to be performed. They were not considered as being in
actual service for the purpose of receiving pay and subsistence,
except when called out by the rebel President. They were

30

not to be called out until a necessity arose for their services.
and they were not to be required to go beyond the limits of
the State to which they belonged. They were expected to
serve when called out only so long as the emergency existed,
and then to return to their ordinary pursuits again."

The inference is correct that the men who composed
ti\ese local companies or battalions of guards were only in the
service of the rebel States when assembled together and
ordered to duty by the rebel President; and so soon as the
special service had been performed, they could retire to their
homes, and, if they saw fit, go inside the Union lines or any-
where else. So lo7ig as they were not in actual service they could
not be considered deserters. But General Pickett had no scruples
in that direction.

The two last paragraphs of this report set forth the
most important of all the conclusions of the Board.

"The evidence tends towards showing that the court
martial before which they were brought was a general court
martial ordered by General Pickett, composed principally of
Virginians, although there seems to have been more than one
court in session at the same time."

While other prominent rebels seemed to have been
concerned in these shameful transactions as accessories, the
evidence clearly shows that General Pickett was the prom-
inent authority under whose direction everything connected
with the murder of our soldiers took place ; and the Board are
therefore unable, from the evidence they have been able to

31

collect, to fix the guilt upon any subordinate in such a
manner as to contain grounds sufficient for preferring personal
charges.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

Judge- Advocate Holt seems to have changed his mind
since his first communication to the Secretary of War, for in
another letter to the same officer, after reading the further '
evidence, speaking of General Pickett, he says:

"Not only does the imperious and vaunting temper in
which these letters are written indicate his readiness to com-
mit this or any kindred atrocity, but his boastful admissions
that he was in command at the time, and that twenty-two
men had been executed, and his threat that he would retaliate
in proportion of ten to one by executions among the 450
officers and men whom, he says, * I have in my hands, and
subject to my order,' all tend to show that he was in respon-
sible command, and furnish evidence upon which it is believed
charges can be sustained against him."

" It is therefore recommended * * * * that charges
be preferred against the said G. E. Pickett, and such other
persons as may be shown to have been in complicity with
him in these murders, and their trial ordered. As a prelim-
inary step, it is suggested that Pickett be at once arrested and
held to await it, upon the evidence furnished in his corres-
pondence adverted to, which is deemed abundantly sufficient
to warrant such arrest."

32

J. Holt,
Judge-Advocate-Genl.
To the Secretary of War.

Captain W. H. Doherty, one of the members of the
first Board of Investigation, in a letter to Judge-Advocate-
General Holt, says:

"I assure you that it would strengthen the hands of
the Government immensly, could this bad and cruel man be
brought to condign punishment, and our poor, murdered
soldiers be avenged." * * * "I thus venture to trouble
you, because I know you share my feelings of indignation at
this horrid crime, and I know that a lasting disgrace will
attach to the United States Government if it is permitted to
pass unpunished. The poor whites of the South will lose
confidence in the federal power if thus forsaken and their
murdered friends unavenged."

And again this officer, in a communication to the Sec-
retary of War, urges that — _

"The authors of this inhuman murder shall be brought
to trial. * * * Thus only can the honor of the Govern-
ment be vindicated, and the cruel enemies of the Union
punished, and the friends of the federal authority sustained
and encouraged in these Southern States."

Here we have the opinion of an intelligent and earnest
officer who served through the rebellion, and has resided in
the vicinity where these outrages occurred.

Soon after these communications were received General

33

Holt again urged upon the Secretary of War the importance
and necessity of having General Pickett arrested and brought
to trial.

In a communication under date of Dec. lo, 1864, to
the President, the Secretary of War gives his reasons why he
has not followed the course suggested by General Holt, which
are set forth in the closing paragraph of his communication,
and are as follows, viz.: "Taking into consideration the
action of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case
of Milligan and others, who had been tried and convicted by
a military commission, and the doubts cast upon the jurisdic-
tion of such tribunals, the Secretary of War has not felt
authorized to pursue the course recommended by the Judge-
Advocate-General until the opinion of the Supreme Court
should be formally promulgated The magnitude of the
offence alleged against Pickett is such that there should be no
reason to contest the jurisdiction of the tribunal to whom his
trial may be committed."

A more perfect and complete case of atrocious guilt
was never proved in any court of law than is here made out
against this great criminal. Testimony is multiplied to such
an extent that the most common understanding cannot fail to
identify the monster who ordered this Dahomean feast of
murder, fit only to disgrace the pages of barbarian history,
it would seem bad enough that this man should escape jus-
tice; but now comes his application for pardon, with the
much-abused oath of allegiance, all in due form, presented in

34

the coolest possible manner, with the humiliating indorse-
ment of the highest officer in our army, urging that the
pardon asked for shall be granted.

For the more perfect elucidation of this case, and in
order that the reader may see how the highest functionaries
of his country are stooping from their lofty position of vindi-
cating authority to the degrading condition of compounding
with treason and taking from the basest of crimes its legiti-
mate sting — eradicating from the public mind all idea of the
possibility of crime against a free government, we give this
Pickett's application for pardon; the endorsement upon it by
our Secretary of War; Pickett's pathetic appeal to General
Grant, and finally General Grant's favorable endorsement
upon the appeal.

Pickett's Application for Pardon.

Richmond, Va., June i. i86t.
Sir:

I have the honor to state that your amnesty proclama-
tion of the 29th day of May, 1865, has just been read. I find
myself among the classes of persons excepted from the benefits
of the proclamation under exceptions third, fifth and eighth.
Having held the rank of major-general in the Confederate
States Army, resigning my position as captain United States
Army, and being a graduate of West Point, I write, making
a special application.

At the commencement of our domestic troubles 1 was

stationed on the disputed island, San Juan, occupying it con-
jointly with the British forces, and did not leave till my
resignation had been sent in, and I properly relieved by the
commanding officer of the Department of the Pacific, and
leave granted me to proceed to my home, and then only
through the conscientious duty (as I conceived) to my mother
State — Virginia. Had she not have seceded, /should not have
been in the Confederate army, as no one was more attached
to the old service, nor ever stood by, and fought for it with
more fidelity, nor could any one have been sadder and more
loth to leave it than I, who from my youth had been so
devoted to it; and 1 now am, and have been since the sur-
render of General Lee (to whose army I belonged), willing
and ready to renew my allegiance as a loyal citizen to the
United States Government, and have advised and counselled
all men belonging to my division to return to their homes and
the peaceful pursuits of life; to take the oath of allegiance, and
observe with scrupulous truth its stipulations, and to faith-
fully obey the laws of their country. My wish as expressed
is a sincere one, and this communication addressed with the
hope that the liberality spoken of in the amnesty proclamation
may be extended to cover my case.

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

G. E. Pickett,

Major-General C. S, Army.

36

Office of Provost Marshall,

Richmond, Va., June i6, 1865.
1, G. E. Pickett, of Nansemond Co., Virginia, do
solemnly swear or affirm in presence of Almighty God, that I
will henceforth faithfully support and defend the Constitution
of the United States, and the union of the States thereunder;
and that 1 will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support
all laws and proclamations which have been made during the
existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves,
so help me God.

G. E. Pickett,
Major-General C. S. Army.

Endorsement of Stanton.

G. E. Pickett, Va. — Rebellion.

Ex-U. S. a. — Filed June 19, 1865.

The Secretary of War reports that Genl. Pickett stands

charged with the unlawful hanging of twenty-two citizens of

North Carolina, and the case is now under investigation in

North Carolina.

Edwin M. Stanton.

Pickett's Appeal to Grant.

Washington, D, C, March 12, 1866.
General:

1 have the honor to state that shortly after the sur-
render of the Confederate forces under command of Gen. R. E.
Lee to Gen. U. S. Grant, Commander-in-Chief United States
Army, in the past year, being at the time paroled by the last-

37

named officer, I made a communication to his Excellency the
President of the United States, asking for his elemency.

The papers in the case were presented by ex-Senator
O. H. Browning, of Illinois, for the consideration of the
Executive.

They consisted of the application above referred to, the
required oath, a recommendation from Gov. Pierpoint, of
Virginia, and certain statements from officers of the Confede-
rate service — members of a general court-marshal — in reference
to the execution of a number of deserters from said service
while I was in command of the Department of North Carolina,
in 1863.

My object now, General, in presenting this paper, is
to ask your favorable consideration of my case, and that you
will, if you believe in my sincerity, for which I have pledged
you my honor as an officer and a gentleman, put such an
indorsement upon it as will obtain from his Excellency the
President a guarantee that I may be permitted to live un-
molested in my native State, where I am now trying to make
a subsistance for my family (much impoverished by the war),
by tilling the land.

It has come to my knowledge that certain evil-disposed
persons are attempting to re-open the troubles of the past,
and embroil me for the action taken by me while the com-
manding officer of the Confederate forces in North Carolina.

I acted simply as the general commanding the De-
partment.

38

Certain men, deserters from a North Carolina regiment,
were taken with arms in their hands fighting against the
colors under which they had enlisted.

Charges were preferred against them, a regularly or-
ganized court-marshal was assembled, composed of officers
from North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia, before whom the
men were tried. The evidence in the cases being perfectly
unmistakeable, the men being identified by members of their
old regimental comrades, they were found guilty and con-
demned to be hung.

The sentences were approved by me, and they were
duly executed according to the custom of war in like cases.
My action was sanctioned by the then Confederate Govern-
ment. If the time has not arrived for the executive clemency
to be extended to my case (and which point I am not now
pressing), I merely wish some assurance that I will not be
disturbed in my endeavors to keep my family from starvation,
and that my parole, which was given in good faith, may
protect me from the assaults of those persons desirous of still
keeping up the war which has ended, in my humble opinion,
forever.

Appealing to you as a soldier, and feeling confident

you will appreciate my position, I sign myself, which much

esteem,

Your obedient servant,

George E. Pickett.
Lieut. -Gen. U. S. Grant,

Commanding Armies United States, Washington, D. C.

39

Indorsement by General Grant,

"Respectfully forwarded to his Excellency the Presi-
dent of the United States, with the recommendation that
clemency be extended in this case, or assurances given that
no trial will take place for the offences charged against G. E.
Pickett.

During the rebellion, belligerent rights were acknowl-
edged to the enemies of our country, and it is clear to me
that the parole given by the armies laying down their arms
protects them against punishment for acts lawful for any
other belligerent. In this case I know that it is claimed that
the men tried and convicted for the crime of desertion were
Union men from North CaroHna, who had found refuge within
our lines and in our service. The punishment was a harsh
one, but it was in time of war, and when the enemy, no
doubt, felt it necessary to retain by some power the services
of every man within their reach. Gen, Pickett I know personally
to be an honorable man, but in this case his judgment prompted him
to do what cannot well be susiaitied, though I do not see how good,
either to the friends of the deceased, or by fixing an example for the
future, can be secured by his trial now. It would only open up
the question whether or not the Government did not disregard
its contract entered into to secure the surrender of an armed

enemy."

U. S. Grant,

Lieut. -General.
March i6, 1866.

40

Let the reader who has once gloried in the best and
proudest title of General Grant — in his title of "Uncondi-
tional Surrender Grant" — observe with what solicitude he
now urges that assurances should be given this rebel Pickett
that he shall not be disturbed. Let the reader note this, and
then think of that rebel "dead line," established by such as
Pickett, to which, if the prisoner approached too near with
rotting feet and idiotic brain, to reach, perhaps, the garbage
beyond for which he was famishing, he was shot dead, and
often considered it a mercy even so to die. The inhuman and
atrocious severities practiced upon Union soldiers, when made
prisoners, placed the rebel leaders beyond the pale of Christian
warfare, and yet this honorable traitor claims the exercise of
the laws of war in his own case, while he refused it to others.
General Grant claims to have made a "contract" with these
traitors, rebels and assailants of free government, to procure
the protection of the guilty parties; that is, the rebel leaders,
in order to secure their surrender to our arms; and, as a con-
dition, he consents to give up, abandon, sacrifice twenty-two
of those humbler servitors of our cause, by whose generous
efforts he has been raised to the position which he now holds,
and the country has thus far been sustained against its foes!
What government can ever thus abandon its defenders to its
foes and have the respect of its subjects or of mankind?
What would be more humiliating to a people than to think
that it owes its peace to the craven sacrifice of its defenders —
yes, and not only of its defenders, but of the principles of
justice, and even of mercy itself.?

41

And what, let it be asked, have we gained by this
disgraceful abandonment of our friends ? Who, in truth, can
give a satisfactory answer to this pertinent living question?

There are, probably, but a small proportion of the
intelligent people of the world who believe that truth is
stranger than fiction; and yet fiction, to a considerable
degree, is only the startling incidents of all ages brought
together, and woven into romances and tales written ta
amuse.

Those who live a hundred years hence will, if the
history of our country for the last six years is truly written,
believe that this was the great age of fiction, and that our
rebellious citizens, and many of their acts, were not realities.
A few years ago they would have been thought impossible
beings, but it was left for the great war of the nineteenth
century to tear the mask from slavery, and expose the monster
in all its horrible aspects. The scarred, bleeding and naked
forms of its victims have been laid before us, and the sword
of vengeance fallen not only on those who have sinned most,
but also on those who have permitted a long series of un-
speakable atrocities to tarnish the history of our so-called
civilization.

History is full of wonderful truths, many of them far
too sublime for the common understandiug to comprehend,
and others far too inhuman for the cultivated and good to
believe. To the latter class belongs the history of the cruel
and bloodthirsty slaveholders' rebellion, and the future his-

42

torian, if he tells one-half of the whole truth, will be doubted
by many, and condemned by others, as the relator of imaginary
horrors.

How many are there among us now who can believe
that a human being with a fair share of natural gifts, highly
educated at an institution under the care of a paternal and
enlightened Government, could, in these times, take pleasure
in ordering twenty-two human beings to an ignominious
death! We search in vain, through the whole length of the
sickening narration, for the evidence of one touch of humanity
on the part of those who were chiefly instrumental in bring-
ing about this unspeakable horror. But, on the contrary, the
chief criminal acted like an insatiable fiend, and those who
were under his orders seemed most eager to do their master's
bidding.

And now comes the injured innocent, unconscious of
having done any wrong, and asks for pardon; and when he
is informed that some meddlesome persons question the pro-
priety of granting him Executive absolution, and restoring
him again to full communion in the union which he tried so
long to destroy, he complains to the general of all our armies
that: "// has come to my knoivledge that certain EVIL-DIS-
POSED persons are attempting to re-open the troubles of the past^
and embroil me for action taken by me while commanding officer of
the Confederate forces in North Carolina. " Was there ever
anything more delightfully cool ? And with what innocent
amiability he arrays his suffering family to public view, in an

43

afTecting tableau attitude, asking for that mercy which he and
the usurped authority which he served so recklessly and
inhumanly withheld from thousands of famishing and rotting
Union soldiers! And were the families of those North Caro-
line soldiers of no account ?

Not less remarkable than the letter itself is the indorse-
ment of Generel Grant upon the back of it. Let us imagine
Benedict Arnold at the end of the revolution asking pardon
and writing a similar personal letter to General Washington.
How would this language appear, coming from him in an-
swer to the application :

"General Arnold 1 know personally to be an
honorable man, but in this case his judgment prompted
him to do what cannot well be sustained, though 1 do
not see how good, by fixing an example for the future,
can be secured by his trial now."

A Strange model for an "honorable man " I And yet,
Benedict Arnold was not educated at the expense of the
Government; he had never caused the murder, in cold blood,
of twenty-two innocent men ; nor committed one-twentieth
of the crimes traced to the hands of this man Pickett. Arnold
was a traitor only. When he lived, treason was treated as an
infamous crime, and would have been punished as such had he
been caught. Now it seems to be looked upon by a con-
siderable number of our higher officials as rather an honorable
distinction.

The last two or three lines of the indorsement of Gen-

44

eral Grant deserve more than a passing notice. Writing,
evidently, after careful deliberation, he says: "It would only
open up the question whether or not the Government did not
disregard its contract entered into to secure the surrender of
an armed enemy." What contract did the Government enter
into when it enlisted those loyal North Carolinians in its
service ?

It may well be asked: What was the necessity for
entering into a "contract" to induce a surrender, practically
in sight and ready to be made.? It is time that a patient and
far too lenient nation should understand some of this unmanly
juggling by which their rights are forfeited. There ought not
to be but one voice throughout the loyal States in relation to
the surrender, at Appomatox, of the right to meet out justice
to rebel leaders.

All agree in one fact; and that is, that there was not
the least necessity for a capitulation, or a "contract." If
General Grant had demanded an unconditional surrender, he
would have done what the army desired, and were ready to
enforce, and what the loyal people had a right to expect he
would do. Many of his friends claim for him that President
Lincoln gave him instructions as to what terms were to be
granted to defeated rebels. Others say it was Seward. If
this be so, it is time that the fact should be known ; for the
nation is still passing through hours of trial and peril, its
life rests upon sincerity and truth, and no respect of persons
should weigh against its safety. Let it be known who it is

i..of(l

45

that has prevented justice being done to criminals who have
committed crimes and inflicted tortures which would disgrace
the annals of the darkest deeds of the middle ages. An out-
raged and patriotic people look to the men whom they have
placed in positions of power, not to aid and abet in com-
pounding with criminals, however honorable or high-minded,
but to see that all the nation's sacrifices have not been made
in vain, and that those who were the instigators and the
great moving spirits in the causeless rebellion shall be punished
as their crimes deserve. They ask "that treason^shall be
made so odious, and traitors so severely punished," that those
who have embarked in it once and failed will never again
dare to undertake such a perilous enterprise as the destruction
of a nation.

If we go back a few years more than a century, we
find English authorities executing three or four hundred of
the followers of the Pretender, and among them a score of the
principal nobles of Scotland. Then, if we keep on in our
investigations of British history, we shall overtake the so-
called Indian mutinies, where an obliterated people tried to
regain a whole nationality stolen, and, failing, were blown up
in their houses and blasted from the mouths of cannon, in
order that English ideas of justice might be satisfied. A few
short months ago, British officers gave the world another
example of justice, and streams of blood poured down the
sides of the mountains in the island of Jamaica. And now
there are a reasonable number of Fenians under sentence of

46

life-long transportation. It is quite evident that treason —
unsuccessful rebellion, or revolt of any kind — is treated by
the English as a crime. And wherein does Republican
government differ in this respect from any other form of gov-
ernment; except only in this, that treason against 2i free
government is more criminal than against any other ?

Hungary, Poland and other submerged nations have
often paid the penalties of rebellion. No fact is better settled
than that traitors and rebels have always been punished. But
we, in the assumed perfection of our asserted superior civiliza-
tion, have invented some sort of a maudlin idea about
wholesale, indiscriminate magnanimity, and high Christian
forgiveness. Wholly mistaking the spirit of Christian charity,
we throw down every bar to the progress of licentiousness,
and deceive ourselves with the fancy that we are practicing
the Christian virtues. In a wild chase after impracticable
chimeras, in a course directly opposed to reason and to the
experience of mankind, which have recognized the necessity
of punishing crime in all ages, we are giving way to unworthy
expedients, stratagems and empty demonstrations of all
kinds, and wholly forgetting that it is Justice that exalteth
a nation.

Notice — In its appropriate connection ought to have been mentioned, the
fact, that Mr. Dawson died without having published any of his rebellion
material.

In the second line of the third paragraph page eleven, read is for are.

^^

ASSASSINATION OF
LOYAL NORTH CAROLINIANS
R SERVING IN THE
1 UNION ARMY.

E

i3^

LBM»'t)5

f^